Coming to Terms
by Mikauzoran
Summary: Ran has the most magical evening planned for her first Christmas with Kaito, but everything is ruined when Kogoro forbids them from spending the second most romantic night of the year alone together. Instead, Kaito gets to know the family…and tries to come to an understanding with the ex-boyfriend for Ran's sake.
1. Part I

Mikau: Happy New Year! So on the Poirot Café forum we did a Secret Santa exchange this year, and the person I got was Crimson, the forum's administrator. Talk about pressure. Needless to say, my first thought was "Crap." followed by "Why me?" And she wanted a fic wherein Conan, Ran, and Kogoro spent Christmas Eve together. Sadly, that grouping is not one of my strengths, so…Kaito crashed the party. I don't think this is anything like she wanted, and it's waaaaay too long considering the suggest length was 500 words, but… So I'm worried that no one's going to read this and I've failed entirely. -.-; But the good news is that I'm pretty happy with how this turned out. I like it, and that's pretty rare, so…maybe it's okay after all. I'm going to stop talking so you can read now. I hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: DCMK is the intellectual property of Aoyama Gosho, and this fic was requested by Crimson Amarone on Poirot Café for the Secret Santa exchange.

…

Part I

"But it's _Christmas Eve_!" Ran cried in exasperation. "It's the most romantic night of the year besides Valentine's! You're supposed to spend an enchanting evening with the person you love, not stay at home with your family!"

Conan discreetly rolled his eyes even as they remained glued to the page of the manga that he was only pretending to read. He wondered if Sonoko's romantic fantasies were beginning to rub off on Ran or if Ran had had a predisposition for romantic idealism from the start. He was inclined to believe it was the latter exacerbated by the former.

"Even people without dates for Christmas Eve spend the night with their friends!" Ran continued in a whine. And then her I-insist-upon-fooling-myself scheming face slid into place and she cajoled, "Sooo why don't you see what Mom's doing, and Conan-kun can head over to the Professor's to watch TV and eat KFC with his friends, and I'll just—"

"—Go on a date with that Kuroba brat?" Kogoro huffed, somehow managing to grind his cigarette out despite the much-too-full state of his ashtray. "I don't think so," her father decreed. "I'm sitting out the annual Christmas party at the club so that I can stay home and make sure you and that Kuroba brat don't get up to nothin'. You're staying home, and that is final, Ran."

Conan tried to stifle a smirk of satisfaction as he silently thanked Old Man Mouri. It was bad enough being trapped in the body of a ten year-old without the love of Shinichi's life starting to date an ex-con who looked exactly like his former self.

"But Kaito pulled all kinds of strings to get us a reservation at Arsene's," Ran persisted, holding her breath on the off chance her begging would soften her father's heart and alleviate his anxieties. "And then he was going to take me shopping in Roppongi, and after that we were going to hit up that new sweets buffet by the station for dessert!"

Kogoro shook his head as he sighed, popping open his third can of beer that hour. "And then he was gonna hold your hand as you two walked around together looking at the lights, right? Maybe sneak in a kiss before he dropped you off?" Kogoro glared disapprovingly as Ran stuck out her bottom lip in a pout. "Or did he pull strings to make reservations at a snazzy hotel too?"

Conan surreptitiously glanced up from the manga he wasn't really reading and nibbled nervously on the inside of his cheek as he waited to hear Ran's reply.

He didn't have to wait long.

"It isn't like that!" she snapped as she flushed, even her ears and neck turning scarlet. "…Kaito is a gentleman," Ran added softly, fondly.

" _More like a gentleman thief,"_ Conan silently sighed to himself as every fiber of his being sizzled with jealousy.

If only Haibara had been able to find an antidote. Then it would have been him, _Shinichi_ , taking Ran out on the town for a night she wouldn't soon forget. Instead, the former Kaitou Kid was taking his place.

"Doesn't matter," Kogoro snorted with a finality that strangled all of Ran's hopes. "I don't care if he's a prince or a fox spirit—he's not taking my little girl anywhere tonight, so you might as well go change out of that…frilly, pink…saloon girl costume you're wearing."

Ran was tempted to retort that she had turned twenty in March and thus was no longer a "little girl", but, knowing it would be futile to argue, she refrained. Instead she muttered sullenly, "It's not a saloon girl outfit. It's the latest design from Helen Griffin's new formal line…. Kaito got it for me."

Conan's left eyebrow shot up. "How does a college student afford a designer original? Ran-neechan, are you sure your boyfriend's not involved in anything illegal?" It had been two years since Kid retired, but the saying "Old habits die hard" existed for a reason.

Ran pursed her lips, crossed her arms, and replied with a dry heat, "Kaito isn't a thief. He's a personal friend of Ms. Griffin, and she gave the dress to him."

Conan wanted to ask if that cross-dressing freak had given it to Ran secondhand, but he held his tongue.

Ran was about to continue her defense of her boyfriend, but it was then that the upstairs doorbell rang. She sighed as she headed towards the door, looking tired and disappointed. "And that would be him."

"Tell him to scram," Kogoro advised, finishing beer can number three with a glug and clinking it down on his desk with authority.

Ran opened the door and stuck her head out in the corridor. "Kaito! Down here."

"Oh. Hey!" came an annoyingly familiar voice out in the stairwell. "I heard voices in the detective agency, but I thought you'd be upstairs," the magician chuckled sheepishly as he descended.

Conan tried not to let his resentment for the ex-thief show as he endeavored to look like he was actually reading the page he'd been staring at these past fifteen minutes.

"I came down to let my family know I was leaving soon, but…" Ran sighed as Kaito appeared in the doorway.

"Problem?" Kaito teetered back and forth from heel to toe in the passageway, not really wanting to have to greet the overprotective father and the guard-dog-like "little brother".

Ran nodded.

"Yer not taking my little girl anywhere!" Kogoro bellowed, not bothering to rise to greet their guest. "So get out of here. Shoo!"

" _DAD_!" Ran hissed, sending her father a glare that subtly reminded him that she was capable of breaking cinderblocks. "Don't be so rude!"

"It's okay," Kaito chuckled, taking Ran's hand as he stepped in.

Conan bristled as Kaito gently stroked the back of Ran's hand with his thumb. To Conan it looked positively lewd. He wanted to go over there and bite Kaito's hand off so that it couldn't do anything else inappropriate to _his_ Ran.

The flames of jealousy were further stoked as Kaito leaned in and whispered into Ran's ear. "Don't worry. Playing Romeo and Juliet only makes it more fun."

Ran blushed and giggled, giving Kaito's hand a squeeze before she turned her attention back to her father. "Dad, I want to spend Christmas Eve with my boyfriend. It's especially important since it's our three-month anniversary, so if you don't want us to go out because you're worried about us being alone together, we're going to stay here where you can supervise us."

As if suddenly remembering something, Ran turned back to Kaito, pale-faced. "Unless…you just want to call it quits. I'd understand you not wanting to spend Christmas Eve with my family when you could still make it to Nakamori-san's party."

Conan picked up an extra twinge of…insecurity?…something akin to pain in Ran's voice when she pronounced the name "Nakamori-san", and he wondered what that was about.

Kaito smiled warmly, his violet eyes sparkling and grinning along with him as he assured, "Ran, I want to spend tonight with _you_ ; I'm not really picky about how we spend it. Besides, I'm going to have to hang with your family eventually, so isn't it better to get used to it sooner rather than later?"

Conan clenched his teeth, wondering just how long this Kuroba Kaito was planning on sticking around.

"Then it's settled!" Ran cheered, a smile coming back to her lips as she squeezed Kaito's hand again with both of her own.

And then she looked back at her father, and a warning glare settled into her eyes. "So Kaito is going to spend the evening with us, okay, Dad?"

Kogoro muttered something not so nice under his breath before reluctantly acquiescing. "Fine. Make yourself at home, Kuroba-brat."

"Thanks, Mouri-tantei," Kaito responded in earnest, determined to play nice for the woman he loved's sake. "I appreciate you having me." Turning to Conan, Kaito's grin began to gradually tilt until it closely resembled a smirk. "Good evening, Tantei-kun."

Conan nodded civilly, determined not to incite Ran's rage. If he played his cards right, he could completely take the romance out of the evening for his nemesis by acting the adorable, innocent, loving little brother.

"Great," Ran chirped, tugging Kaito back out the door. "Well, Kaito and I are just going to head upstairs now. Feel free to check in on us at any point because I know you will whether I want you to or not."

"W-Why are you going upstairs, Ran-neechan?" Conan's face blanched as he jumped to his feet and his unread manga fell to the floor with a decisive thump. "You're not going to your bedroom, are you?!"

"You'd better not be!" Kogoro too rose to his feet in a panic.

Ran rolled her eyes. "Well, since my fairy tale-esque dinner plans have been canceled, I'm going to have to make my own food, aren't I? And the kitchen is upstairs. You do the math," she replied sardonically to her father, letting the full force of her displeasure be known.

"I'll go with you!" Conan eagerly volunteered.

"And I'll be up in a minute," Kogoro assured. It almost sounded like a threat.

"Okay then," Ran sighed, pulling her boyfriend gently by the hand as Conan darted up the stairs ahead of them.

Conan held the door until the couple caught up and Kaito took it from him...and proceeded to close it in his face, leaning on the door so as to trap Conan inside the apartment and leave himself and Ran alone on the landing.

Ran gave Kaito a disapproving look as Conan yelped "Hey!" and started banging on the door.

Kaito only shrugged and smiled impishly. "I'm a desperate man—desperate for a moment alone with my girlfriend so I can tell her how radiant she looks in that dress."

"Kaito," Ran hummed as a blush of pleasure graced her cheeks.

"Hey!" Conan shouted again, peeping up at them through the mail slot.

"It's _true_ ," Kaito insisted, taking Ran's hand and nuzzling it tenderly before pressing a chivalrous kiss to her knuckles. He looked up through his eyelashes at her and smiled. "You're more lovely than the most splendid sunset."

A faint gagging sound was heard from the other side of the door along with a slightly muffled, "Do you seriously think she's gonna swallow your clichéd purple prose?"

Kaito's lips twisted into a frown of displeasure, but the sour expression didn't last long. "The lady deserves to be treated like a princess, Tantei-kun," Kaito clucked before turning his attention back to Ran. "Besides…she likes my poetry."

"Because you keep thinking up wilder and more ridiculous ways to tell me I'm pretty," Ran laughed, lips parting in a grin.

"Well, you _are_ beautiful," Kaito reiterated, making a red rose appear in the hand he had just been holding.

Ran admired the bloom, eyes twinkling in delight, before she shyly whispered, "And you're pretty handsome yourself." Her hands joined with his, and they stood there smiling at each other. "…You were wearing a white tux the day we met too," she cooed softly. "Except, instead of a black undershirt and white tie, you were wearing blue and red, and your hat was different too, but…"

Conan's ears perked up. A white suit, blue undershirt, red tie, and hat… Did Ran _know_?!

"Do you like the fedora?" Kaito chuckled, cocking his head so that the fedora tilted rakishly to the side.

"I _like_ the fedora," Ran giggled.

Their conversation was brought to an end at that point by Kogoro emerging from the detective agency below and looking at the couple in suspicion. "You two are still out here in the hall? Where's the freeloading brat?"

"We were just going," Kaito assured at the same time Conan shouted, "I'm in here! That jerk trapped me inside so that he could be alone with Ran-neechan!"

Kogoro scowled.

Kaito smiled sheepishly, opening the door with a soft, "After you," to Ran.

As he went by, Kogoro muttered a reproving, "Watch yourself, _Boy_."

To which Kaito offered a reconciliatory, "Yes, Sir."

…

"So tell us about how you two met," Conan entreated as he danced around Kaito and Ran's legs in the kitchen, ensuring that he was always between the would-be lovebirds.

Ran, not seeing Conan's scheme for what it was, smiled and laughed and thought nothing of her little brother's interference.

"Yeah," Kogoro seconded from where he sat at the living room table, smoking the nth cigarette of the day. "How did you two get to know each other? You met at Beika U, right? I don't remember you mentioning him when you were back at Teitan."

"Well, we had run into each other from time to time at Kid heists in high school," Ran explained as she smiled serenely, chopping carrots and potatoes for the curry.

So she _did_ know.

"Kaito is Nakamori-keibu's daughter's childhood friend, Dad—but we didn't really meet officially until last June at his birthday party."

Conan raised an eyebrow at that. "How did you end up at his birthday party if you didn't know him?"

"Fate," Kaito replied in all seriousness (earning him a dirty look from Conan) as the magician tried to avoid aforementioned munchkin and get over to Ran's side. Conan managed to remain firmly in Kaito's way without arousing Ran's suspicions.

Kaito smiled wryly down at his shrunken foe, his eyes clearly communicating "I know what you're doing, and I will get you for it later" even as he continued to speak in a chipper tone. "Actually, Ran and I have a lot of the same friends—Hakuba Saguru, Sera Masumi, Suzuki Sonoko…. Hakuba was throwing the party for me in order to try to get me over…a recent catastrophic breakup, and Sono-chan and Mi-chan were already invited, and they suggested inviting Ran as well."

"We really hit it off at the party," Ran chuckled as she remembered that night—the pool, how competitive Kaito had been at the party games, the inflatable flamingos…the unexpected kiss for which Hakuba-kun still owed Kaito a surprise fish attack.

Her pleasant reverie was cut short when Conan snapped, "So Ran-neechan is just a rebound?", all the while vowing with his eyes to disembowel Kaito at the first opportunity.

"No," Ran laughed softly at the misunderstanding. It seemed so silly to her because she _knew_ the depth of Kaito's feelings for her. "Kaito and I were just friends for over a year after that."

"It's true that we kind of bonded over getting over our respective previous partners," Kaito admitted with a shrug, "but we didn't start dating until both of us were feeling emotionally healthy again."

Conan gave a little snort of incredulity, but he didn't challenge Kaito's assertion out loud. Still…Ran was over Shinichi? …But then why was she dating a guy with Shinichi's face? Clearly Ran was only kidding herself.

"So who confessed first?" Kogoro probed, taking a genuine interest that was unusual for him. It was his only child, though, and after that nasty breakup with that Kudo brat… He'd seen his beloved daughter in pieces over her last boyfriend, so this time he wanted to make sure that Ran's suitor was on the up and up.

Kaito raised his hand with a bashful grin. "That would be me."

"It was super romantic," Ran chuckled as she transferred the vegetables from the cutting board to the pot with her knife. "He somehow managed to commandeer the university's rooftop greenhouse for the night, and he set up a table and chairs and these ginormous, elegant candelabras in there. He made me dinner, and it was absolutely _scrumptious_. I've never met another guy my age that could cook like that."

"Well, I did grow up living by myself, so I kind of had to cook to survive. Because of that, I have a bit of an unfair advantage over other guys, but you shouldn't praise me too much. I mean, my cooking is nothing compared to yours, Ran," Kaito pretended to be humble even as he inwardly preened.

Ran shook her head as she stirred the pot. "Still. Dinner was to _die_ for. And after that we went out on the roof to look at the stars. At least that's what he said we were going to do, but then this joker—"

"—Well, we _did_ look at the stars for a few minutes," Kaito broke in with a chuckle, finally giving up on trying to get past Conan and instead settling in to lean up against the kitchen counter. "Remember? I showed you some constellations before the fireworks show started?"

"Fireworks?" Kogoro frowned. "Don't you need a permit for that?"

Kaito grinned unapologetically. "Maaaaaybe."

"But at the end of the show," Ran continued, "the finale spelled out 'Will you go out with me?'"

"And she, of course, was charmed into saying yes?" Conan snorted.

"You got it," Kaito crowed with pride.

"And then I bet you kissed her," the jealous ex grumbled.

"What?!" Kogoro yelped, and the cigarette fell right out of his mouth as his jaw dropped.

" _I_ kissed _him_ ," Ran corrected with a sly grin directed at her boyfriend.

Kaito returned the smile with a fond grin and a loving gaze of his own.

It made Conan's stomach turn, it was so sickening…like soured milk. What's more, Shinichi and Ran had never kissed despite being in love for _years_ , so where did this Kuroba bastard get off stealing her lips after only knowing Ran for a little over twelve months?!

Meanwhile, Kogoro was making beached whale noises. "Ran!" he gasped. "Your first kiss?!"

Ran waved away her family's overreactions. "Oh, you would have kissed him too after such a romantic evening. Everything was perfect—the setting, the mood, the music, the food, the stars, the fireworks… It makes me wonder how he's going to top it for the proposal."

Conan nearly choked. "P-Proposal?!"

Kogoro leaned so that he could look into the kitchen at the man trying to steal his daughter. "You've only been dating three months. Are you _seriously_ thinking about sticking in this for the long haul?"

"Oh yeah. Definitely," Kaito easily replied. "Sometimes you don't need long to decide that this is the person you want to spend your life with. Sometimes you just know, and I knew that Ran was special from the very moment I laid eyes on her."

"Oh? You mean when you knocked her out and put her in a lifeboat so that you could impersonate her?" Conan murmured softly under his breath.

Kaito seemed not to hear as he continued, "My own parents only knew each other a week before they got married, and they have a love to last for the ages, so I don't really see only dating for three months as being a problem."

"Let's not rush things, okay?" Kogoro growled. "Ran's got to graduate and get her doctorate of juris…juris…her lawyer degree before she can afford to think about marriage."

"Don't worry," Ran assured as she broke up the curry blocks and slowly added them to the pot. "We've talked, and we've decided that we want to make sure that we're both independent and financially stable before we settle down and start a family. It'll be a long engagement, so you'll all have plenty of time to get used to the idea of me marrying Kaito before it actually happens."

"But, Ran-neechan!" Conan cried, busting out his "immature five year-old" whine. "You can't marry _him_!" Conan rushed over to Ran and pulled childishly on the tulle of her dress's skirt. He looked up at her with big, soulful eyes and insisted, "Ran-neechan's going to be _my_ bride. Aren't you?"

Ran smiled gently and bent over slightly to kiss Conan on the forehead. It was a little easier now that he was older and his head came up to her midriff. "Conan-kun, I'm always going to love you as a sister, but the love between a husband and a wife is a little different than that, and _that's_ the kind of love I feel for Kaito."

"Don't worry," Kaito assured as he stepped in and placed an arm around Ran's waist now that Conan was distracted and no longer keeping him away from his girlfriend. "I could never replace you in Ran's heart, and I'm not trying to crowd you out, Tantei-kun. Ran's told me how important her 'little brother' is to her, so I want you two to keep being as much a part of each other's lives as possible. I'm not here to take away your sister—or _your_ daughter, for that matter, Mouri-tantei," Kaito raised his voice slightly as he addressed the man in the other room. "So think of this instead as gaining a big brother or a son." Kaito smiled brightly as he gave Conan a pat on the shoulder.

Conan pulled away as his head whirled with all of this new information. He'd known that Ran was friends with Kid. He'd heard about Kuroba Kaito from Ran over a year ago, and he was fully aware of the fact that Ran had recently started dating the former thief. She'd told her family right away, much to their alarm and dismay…but…Conan had never realized that it was serious. Maybe he just hadn't wanted to see it before, but now it was horrifically apparent that Kudo Shinichi was being left behind in the dust and Kuroba Kaito was taking over in his absence.

Ran had stopped waiting indefinitely for her beloved childhood friend. Sure, she had called and told Shinichi that it was over nearly two years beforehand at the end of high school, but…Conan had never realized how absolutely serious she had been until this very moment.

"But…" Conan whispered in a daze. "Maybe this isn't permanent either."

Ran blinked, and her face clouded over. "Conan-kun? What do you mean, Sweetheart?"

"I mean, maybe you'll get tired of him and stop loving him too, just like you did with Shinichi-niichan."

Ran's lips parted in a startled "Oh" as she looked with distress at her younger brother.

"Ran?" Kaito called softly, tightening his hold on her as he shot his beloved anxious glances.

Even Kogoro got up from the table and came to check on his daughter, unsure how the utterance of the forbidden name would affect her. "Ran?"

Ran shook her head and broke away from them all, directing her attention back to the curry pot, now bubbling enthusiastically. She turned the burner down to low heat and began to stir continuously. "It's okay. Conan-kun…you'll understand when you're a little older, but things between me and Shinichi… Sometimes…even if two people love one another, they can't be together for whatever reason. It was like that with Shinichi and me. He had to choose between his work and our future together, and…and he decided that it was more important to be out there putting his life on the line so that he could save a lot of other people," she explained, voice strong despite the tears building in the corners of her eyes.

"I can't blame him for that," Ran whispered. "Shinichi's work is very important, so I didn't mind for a long time, but…I eventually discovered that I couldn't keep going in a relationship like that. I needed someone who could be there when I needed him, someone who would be by my side, so Shinichi and I broke up. I'll always love him as my dear friend, but…I can't love him as a man anymore."

"Ran," Kaito breathed, coming up behind his darling and encircling his arms around her. He nuzzled her ear and pressed a kiss to the junction of her neck and shoulder.

Ran smiled, patting Kaito's hand resting on her stomach. "Thanks. I'm okay."

She quickly pulled herself together, pasting a smile on her lips for the sake of the men she loved. "The curry's almost done. Dad, can you get the plates out? Kaito, can you help him? And, Conan-kun, you get the paddle for the rice, okay?"

The three quickly assented, not daring to risk upsetting her when she was so close to the edge.

Conan hung his head as he searched the drawer for the rice paddle. Guilt clung to him, squeezing the life out of him like a straightjacket. He'd never meant to dredge up the wounds of Ran's past. He'd had no idea she'd react so strongly. He'd had no idea about a lot of things. Had he just had his head in the sand these past two years since the breakup? He'd missed so much as he struggled against the Organization, scrambling to piece the clues together and return to his original body, return to her. He'd been oblivious to what was going on around him.

Conan jumped as a pair of strong hands gently came to rest on his shoulders.

"Hey," Kaito whispered as Ran and Kogoro carried the curry and the flatware respectively into the living/dining area. "Don't worry too much about before, Tantei-kun. Yeah, Ran's still struggling with all that stuff that happened with Kudo, but she's a strong chick, and she's going to be okay. She's got the right way of thinking about it now. She used to think that _she_ was the problem, that there was something she was lacking and that's why Kudo didn't stick around and wasn't there for her, but now she knows that he just had important stuff that he had to do and it wasn't her fault. She's got things straight, and she's come to peace with a lot of it. What's more, she's got a family that loves her and strong friendships…and…I'm going to keep being there for her, so…she's going to be okay. So don't worry, and don't beat yourself up about upsetting her before, okay? Everything's going to be okay, so you don't have to worry about your family getting taken away from you or falling apart again."

Conan looked up at Kaito in surprise. "My…family?"

"Yeah." Kaito shrugged. "Ran told me about your family situation…how your folks left you here and don't write or call or visit much." Kaito's face darkened slightly as he confessed, "I kind of know what it's like to be left behind and forgotten about. My old man was murdered when I was little, and my mom…didn't take his death very well. Then after she got out of the hospital a year later, she took off, and…I still don't see her much…but I made a new family for myself like you've done with the Mouris, so I have some idea of how you must feel about Kudo drifting away and then me coming in and rocking the boat. I know I'd want things to go back to quote, unquote 'normal', and I'd be pretty prickly myself and try my hardest to get rid of the intruder if someone threatened my family, so…I just wanted to assure you that everything's going to be okay, and I'm not here to take anything away from you. So just relax and be a ten year-old for once, okay, Tantei-kun?"

Conan snorted to himself, breaking away from Kaito as he finally found the rice paddle. He snatched the requested item out of the drawer and shut it with a bang, turning and stalking off into the living room. He did, however, mutter sullenly over his shoulder, "I appreciate what you're trying to do, Kuroba, and I'm glad you could help to make Ran happy after things didn't work out with Shinichi-niichan, but you have _no_ idea how I feel."

There was no way that Kuroba could guess what all he was robbing Shinichi of. He had no way of knowing that his presence in Ran's life was choking the life out of Shinichi's last hopes for the happiness he'd been dreaming of with Ran since he was a child.

…

Dinner was actually a fairly peaceful affair. Kogoro and Conan, of course, worked together to make sure that Ran and Kaito couldn't sit next to each other, but sitting across the table from one another still allowed them to gaze dreamily at each other throughout the meal…much to Conan's chagrin.

The younger of the two detectives was uncharacteristically silent throughout most of dinner, contenting himself with listening to the Old Man interrogate Kaito with a barrage of loaded questions. He did, however, speak up once at the beginning to inquire as to whether Ran had forgotten to put the meat in the curry.

"I don't taste it, and I can't find any chunks of it like there usually are," Conan remarked as he spooned through the curry and rice mixture.

"Come to think of it…" Kogoro studied a spoonful of his own curry rice and found it decidedly without a scrap of chicken or beef. "The freeloading brat's right."

"Kaito doesn't eat meat," Ran sniffed indignantly.

"Well, you could have made a separate pot of curry for him. There's no reason why the rest of us have to suffer," Kogoro griped but ate his portion regardless.

"I could be eating filet mignon and drinking extremely expensive wine right now," Ran reminded. "You're lucky I made any for you at all, Dad."

"…But what about the squirt?" Kogoro countered, seeing the validity of her point. "He needs protein to grow, doesn't he? I mean, he's already tiny for his age; do you want him to be a shrimp for life? Shrimps have a hard time making friends, succeeding in school, and, most importantly, dating. It's been scientifically proven, Ran."

"Then it's a good thing Conan-kun already has a solid group of friends, does exceptionally well in school, and is a total hit with the ladies," Ran retorted as Conan blushed profusely.

Kaito chuckled as he turned to his right to elbow Conan playfully. "Are you really a stud, Tantei-kun?"

"Absolutely," Ran answered for him. "Both Ayumi-chan and Ai-chan are crazy for him, and he just got his sixth love note of the year in his shoe cubby last week. Furthermore, you should have seen all of the chocolate he received on Valentine's. I think he spent over five thousand yen in White Day chocolates."

Kaito whistled lasciviously, giving Conan an equally lewd grin. "Way to go, Tantei-kun."

"Can we talk more about him and not so much about me, please?" Conan begged, casting a pleading glance at Kogoro. "Don't you still have to ask him about how many people he's slept with and whether or not mental illness runs in his family?"

Kogoro shrugged, reaching for his second-to-last can of beer. "Well, Kuroba-brat?"

"One and yes," Kaito replied unashamedly, refusing to back down. He was in this for the long run.

Kogoro's grip on his spoon tightened to the point where the metal started to bend. "One person including or not including my daughter?"

"I've never slept with your daughter," Kaito quickly replied, eager to clear up any misunderstandings that might end in him in a body cast. He seemed to remember that the elder Mouri practiced judo.

"Ah. I see." This answer seemed to please the protective grizzly bear papa.

"Then…that one person would be…Nakamori-san?" Ran gulped, face a little whiter than it had been before.

Conan's eyes widened at the repetition of the name that had distressed Ran previously. So it was Kuroba's former flame…and probably Nakamori-keibu's daughter. Conan wondered if _she_ had known that she was dating the Kaitou Kid.

Kaito nodded shamefacedly and then added for Conan and Mouri's benefit, "Nakamori Aoko is my ex-girlfriend. If it helps, I was in love with her for twelve years before anything physical happened between us, so…"

"So you slept with her?" Ran quietly asked her plate of curry.

Kaito bit his lip. "I thought it would be better to tell the truth in case your father goes around trying to dig up dirt on me. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you more delicately, Ran, but…it was way before 'us', and…besides, haven't you and Kudo…?"

"Of course not!" three voices chorused in perfect unison, nearly knocking Kaito over with their adamancy.

"Oookaaay." Kaito chewed nervously on his lip. "I guess that will just have to be something that I really make up for later in the relationship, but…can we talk about my family history of mental illness or my criminal history or something now, please?"

Conan nearly choked on a chunk of potato.

"Do you _have_ a criminal history?" Kogoro seethed, eyeing Kaito as if he were one of the lowlifes Kogoro had interrogated years and years ago when he was on the force.

"Look me up," Kaito offered. "No criminal record. Not even a traffic violation."

Ran stifled a laugh at this, causing Conan to feel both relieved and ticked. He was glad to see her smile again after she had seemed so distressed over the fact that her boyfriend had had a previous physical relationship, but at the same time, it irritated him to witness further proof that Ran was aware that the guy she supposedly loved was an ex-criminal.

"And what's the mental illness about?" Kogoro continued calmly.

"My mother suffered a mental breakdown nearly a decade and a half ago when my father was murdered. She's the only case I know of, but…" Kaito shrugged, trying to play that traumatic experience off nonchalantly.

Kogoro nodded, seeming to accept Kaito's answers. "What's your favorite thing about Ran?" he challenged.

Kaito smiled in relief at the question. "Depends on the day, really. Somedays I like her elegant beauty best, and other days I prefer her sharp wit. There have been times when her spicy temper has been my favorite, and others when I've been supremely grateful for her patience and forgiving nature. There are even times when I find the things that annoy me about her to be endearing."

"Like what?" Ran prompted with a cold glare.

"Like when you call me 'Shinichi'," Kaito quickly supplied.

Ran blushed, gaze dropping down into her curry once more.

Meanwhile, Conan felt a trill of victory go through him. This new development lent further credence to his theory that Ran was only using this loser as a surrogate for Shinichi.

"Sorry. You find it endearing when she calls ya by some other guy's name?" Kogoro stared skeptically at his daughter's boyfriend.

Kaito shrugged. "Well, obviously it ticks me off, but I also like that about her because it shows she's loyal. Some girls can be really fickle with their affections, but Ran's love is actually worth something. It endures. Even after Kudo smashed her heart into pieces, she still cares about him, still treasures him. If she can still love the guy that jilted her, how much more can she love me?"

Kogoro harrumphed as he turned to his daughter. "Be careful. This one's got a silver tongue."

"Doesn't he?" Ran chuckled softly. "And he may talk big, but when I actually call him 'Shinichi', he pouts like a child for _hours_ , if not, _days_."

"But I've never once called you 'Aoko', have I?" Kaito challenged.

Ran pursed her lips, unable to return his volley.

"And that's another thing that annoys me about her," Kaito picked up the previous thread of conversation. "She's super insecure about me and Aoko. On the one hand, I wish she would just trust me when I tell her it's over…but on the other…I think she's adorable when she gets unsure of where she stands with me. I like it because it lets me know how much she cares about our relationship. It's the same when she gets jealous. It's kind of insulting that she thinks I could be charmed away by some fangirl off the street, but at the same time, Ran's _gorgeous_ when she's jealous. I love that fiery spirit of hers, and I really do like when she gets possessive of me," Kaito explained with a grin of contentment.

Conan thought that Kaito was nuts. Jealous Ran had only ever been scary as hell in Shinichi's opinion. He decided that the crazy thief must be some kind of masochist.

Ran's cheeks burned as she scooped some more rice onto her plate. "Do we have to talk about me so much? Why don't we go back to interrogating Kaito? That was interesting."

"Way to throw me to the wolves, Hun," Kaito chuckled nervously.

"It's your own fault for upsetting me," Ran countered with a prim sniff.

Kaito smiled even as his girlfriend gave him the cold shoulder. "Sorry. I was just trying to be truthful with the future in-laws since they're both probably going to run background checks on me, interrogate everyone who knows me, stalk me for a week, and dig up all kinds of dirt on me in general."

"You bet your britches I will," Kogoro snorted.

Kaito continued unfazed. "But…I swear I'll behave from now on. Okay?"

"You'd better," Ran threatened, waving her chopsticks to intimidate him. The scene wouldn't have been so scary without the knowledge that Ran could kill a grown man at least six different ways with those chopsticks.

But still Kaito grinned, looking at Ran in adoration.

Her hard exterior cracked, and she sent him a soft smile that revealed that she wasn't quite as mad as she was pretending to be.

"So how do you plan to support Ran-neechan in the future?" Conan broke in, desperate to derail the Hallmark moment unfolding in front of him.

"That's a good question," Kogoro hummed. "Good job, Squirt," he praised and then trained his eyes on Kaito. "What's your major and what do you plan on doing with it?"

"Kaito's an extremely talented magician," Ran supplied with a hint of pride in her voice. "He already preforms professionally, and someday he's going to be touring internationally like his father did before him."

"A stage magician?" Kogoro did not look impressed.

"Who is also working on degrees in engineering and technical theatre," Kaito added, hoping to persuade the detective that he would be able to take proper care of his only child. "So I do have other options if being a professional magician ceases to be viable for us as a couple…or as a family when that time comes. I could always find a job as an engineer or a stage manager."

"Or even as a private consultant for a securities firm, right, Kaito?" Ran expounded. "Dad, Kaito has worked as a consultant before for the police and several private companies. There are a lot of options, and all of them pay well."

Kogoro raised an eyebrow at Kaito. "So you think you'll be able to take care of my daughter? Provide her with everything she could ever dream of?"

"If that were necessary." Kaito chuckled with a sheepish shrug. "Ran's a smart, independent woman. As you know, she's aiming to be a lawyer, and, knowing Ran, she's going to not just succeed, but thrive in her field. She's not the type of woman that needs a man for anything."

Ran practically glowed with pride at Kaito's words.

"… _But_ ," Kaito stressed, "if at any point she wants to quit to become a stay-at-home mom, I've got the family covered."

"She'd better not become a mom anytime in the next decade," Kogoro hissed (a sentiment that Conan echoed precisely). "Do we understand each other?"

"Yes, Sir," Kaito responded promptly, sweat trickling down the back of his neck.

" _Dad_ ," Ran scolded.

"What?" Kogoro huffed. "You're too young to be thinking about having kids."

"How old were you and Mom when I was born?" Ran countered.

Kogoro paled and remained silent.

Kaito took the opportunity to lighten the mood of the evening by steering the conversation in a more favorable direction. "Well, I think we've talked enough about me for one night. Really, I'm kind of boring."

Conan snorted in dissention. If an ex-international jewel thief was "boring", what hope did the karate club president (who also had his eye on Ran) have?

"So let's chat about something more interesting, shall we?" Kaito continued, either ignoring or not hearing Conan's snort. "Ran tells me that you're a big fan of Okino Yoko, Mouri-tantei. It just so happens that one of the magician's I open for preforms at a lot of the same venues as her, so we've run into each other a dozen or so times. She actually gave me backstage passes for her next concert, but, unfortunately, I have a gig that night. You wouldn't be interested in going in my place, would you?"

Conan cursed under his breath because, with that, he knew Kuroba Kaito had won a place as one of Old Man Mouri's favorite people.

To make matters worse, Ran then helpfully mentioned that Kaito had the devil's own luck and was surprisingly good at picking winning horses.

And things went downhill from there as, for the rest of the meal, Mouri babbled excitedly about his personal interests, all the while finding more and more things about Kaito to like.

…

Mikau: I just had to split this up into two parts. It was waaay too long to manage otherwise. ^.^; But I hope you liked part one. Part two should be up next week. Please let me know what you thought. Thanks so much for reading!


	2. Part II

Mikau: Hello again! Thank you so much for sticking with me! Here's the second and final installment. Much appreciation to my reviewers from last time: AngelsBeast and Guest (Thank you so much! I'm really glad you enjoyed it! ^o^ I think these two are cute together and actually good for each other, so I'm happy that you liked reading my interpretation of the pairing.)! And now on with the show!

Disclaimer: DCMK is the intellectual property of Aoyama Gosho, and this fic was requested by Crimson Amarone on Poirot Café for the Secret Santa exchange.

…

Part II

"Here. Let me get that," Kaito offered, taking the dishes from Ran as she started to clear the table after dinner.

"I'll wash them later, so just leave them in the sink," Ran instructed. "I won't have any guest of mine doing dishes."

"I don't mind," Kaito assured with a winning grin.

To which Ran firmly asserted, "I _insist_ ," in such a manner as to nip further protestations in the bud.

"As you wish, Buttercup." Kaito yielded with a salute and turned to escort the dishes to the kitchen sink.

Ran began gathering a second armful of flatware and cutlery only to be interrupted by her father reaching out and resting a hand on her forearm. She looked up at him, raising one eyebrow slightly.

Kogoro's countenance was hardened into a rare serious expression. "Hey."

"Y-Yes?" She blinked, wondering what this could be about.

Kogoro glanced towards the kitchen where Kaito had gone before turning his solemn gaze back at Ran. He lowered his voice and asked, "You really like this guy? He makes you happy?"

Ran looked taken aback for a moment before breaking out in a warm laugh and a soft smile of pure joy. She nodded. "Yeah. I love him."

Conan's heart clenched, and he tried his best to keep his eyes trained on the table in front of him. He didn't want to see her smile like that when thinking of anyone other than Shinichi.

Kogoro's expression darkened. He bit his lip. "And…it's not just 'cause…because he looks like you-know-who, right?"

Ran shook her head and laughed again. "No. Kaito's wonderful in all of his own ways. I may have originally taken an interest in him for his face, but he won me over on his own merits…. And now I love him," she whispered with a wistful smile. "He may have his own set of vices, but he's honest with me, and he's reliable. When it comes to me versus other things in his life, he always picks me. I know I'm important to him, that he loves me too. I don't have to wonder if some case is more exciting than spending time with me or if he cares more about Sherlock Holmes than me. Kaito's dependable, affectionate, and considerate, so, even though he has his faults, he makes me happy nine times to one. And the problems that we do have, we can work out as a couple. I feel like I can work together with him as a team to overcome _both_ of our shortcomings, and I think that's the key to a successful, happy partnership, so…" Ran ended with a shrug and the dopey grin of one that knew what it was to love and be loved.

Kogoro nodded, satisfied with her answer, and let go of her arm.

"If Ran _had_ any 'shortcomings', anyway," Kaito chuckled as he came back into the dining/living area for another armful of dirty dishes. "But other than that, I think she's got it spot on." Kaito turned to wink at his beloved. "And I love it when you wax poetic about me, Honey."

Ran rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to protest.

Kaito headed her off at the pass. "If you're about to say that you consider your temper a shortcoming, you should know that I think it's adorable. I _like_ being bossed around, and I enjoy it when you threaten me with bodily harm."

Ran shook her head and sighed, piling dishes on top of the ones already in Kaito's hands. "Stop eavesdropping and mindreading already." She gave him a playful shove in the direction of the kitchen. "You're lucky I don't really put you to work."

Kaito shrugged, smirked, and dutifully carried out his task.

"I heard that," Ran snorted with a frown of disapproval.

"What?" Kaito pouted. "I didn't say anything." At least not out loud. He'd really wanted to comment about her "putting him to work" on a mattress or something, but he hadn't thought it proper or advisable what with the lady's father (who could judo-throw him through a wall) and a ten year-old (who could be just as deadly and overprotective) present.

"No, but you thought it," Ran scolded.

"Now who's the mind reader?" Kaito chuckled, heading for the kitchen.

Ran shook her head, grabbing the last of the dishes with a smile that Conan was doing his best not to notice.

"Hey, Ran, do we have any Christmas cake?" Kogoro inquired, pulling out his almost empty cigarette pack and lighting up.

"No. Why?" She paused to raise an eyebrow at her father. "The other day when I asked, you said you didn't want any."

"Because I was going to go to a Christmas party where there would be cake served by beautiful young women," Kogoro grumbled. "Can you go get some from the store? I'm sure the convenience store down the street will still have some."

With a heavy sigh, Ran shook her head and acquiesced. "Sure, Dad. Let me finish clearing the table, and I'll go."

"I'll go with you," Kaito gladly volunteered.

"Oh, no you don't," Kogoro decreed. "You're staying here so we can have a little chat."

Kaito waved away the patriarch's protest. "We can chat whenever you like, but I don't like Ran going out by herself at night."

"I feel sorry for any crook that tries to bother her," Conan snickered. "The poor dope will only land himself in the hospital."

"True," Kaito hummed reluctantly. "But—"

"—There. That settles it," Kogoro cut him off. "Ran will go get the cake, and Kaito-kun will stay here and get grilled."

Conan inwardly winced at the fact that his rival had gone from being "Kuroba-brat" to "Kaito-kun" in one sitting while Shinichi himself had remained "that detective brat" (or even "that Kudo brat" if he were lucky) for over a decade now.

"Dad, be nice," Ran instructed with a warning glare as she went to deposit the last of the dishes into the kitchen sink.

"I'll be fine, Ran," Kaito reassured her, confident in his abilities. "Chatting is my specialty."

She gave him a gauging look before glancing between him and her father.

"Seriously," Kaito reaffirmed, going over to the coat stand and grabbing hers, holding it up for her.

Ran sighed. "Oh, all right." She reluctantly slipped on the coat. "Just be good."

"I will," Kaito promised.

" _All_ of you." She cast a look at her father and Conan (who each mumbled "Yes, Ma'am"s of their own).

"Be safe, Hun." Kaito reached out and tenderly stroked her cheek.

"I will," Ran assured, placing her hands lightly on his shoulders and leaning in for a quick kiss.

Conan tried not to stare in despair. Because they looked like a husband seeing his wife off to work in the morning.

"I'll give you your present when you get back, so don't take too long, okay?" Kaito offered an incentive.

Ran rolled her eyes playfully. "You didn't have to get me anything."

"It's our first Christmas together as a couple. Of _course_ I had to get you something," Kaito snickered. "I know you. If I didn't, you would have told our children and grandchildren and generations to come about how I didn't get you anything for Christmas our first year together."

"I'm not that petty," Ran sniffed indignantly.

"You still complain about the birthdays and Christmases that Kudo messed up on," Kaito reminded. "I'm not taking any chances. Now go and get the cake and hurry back so I can give you my awesome gift. I love you."

"Love you too," Ran chuckled, waving goodbye to her family as she turned to go.

It left Conan wondering if he'd really been such a bad boyfriend as all that. It wasn't exactly his fault that he'd been trapped in the body of a child for all of those years, unable to be the man that Ran wanted and deserved in her life. …Except for the part where it was his fault in the first place that he'd snuck off during their trip to Tropical Land to pursue suspicious characters instead of putting Ran first, spending time with her. Funny how that one mistake had compounded…and now here they were. Shinichi was Conan for the rest of his life, and Ran was moving on, finding happiness.

If only Shinichi had been able to truly appreciate what he'd had. But he'd been young and impulsive, never dreaming that his curiosity and his ego would get him into trouble.

"So shoot," Kaito challenged as he sashayed like a snooty cat back over to sit at the table. "Ask me anything."

Kogoro eyed his daughter's suitor warily. "…What's the worst thing you've ever done?"

Conan couldn't wait to see what heist the former thief was about to confess to.

Kaito's face paled, and a tortured, penitent expression took over, but he didn't hesitate in the least as he responded, "I lied to someone who trusted me."

Kogoro raised an eyebrow skeptically. "That's the worst of it?"

Kaito looked away, ashamed. "She trusted me. She _believed_ in me, and I let her down. I looked her straight in the face and lied. What could be worse than being a lowlife traitor?"

Kogoro studied the suspect as he puffed on his second-to-last cigarette. "You lie a lot?"

"I used to," Kaito confessed, still looking down. "To everyone, really. I didn't think I had much choice in the matter, and if anyone found out and told Aoko the truth…"

"But she found out anyway," Kogoro conjectured.

Kaito nodded, indescribable agony etched into his features. "I thought I was protecting her…her happiness, by not telling her, but… I learned the hard way that always trying to shield and protect someone, keeping the harsh truth from them, is no way to have a real relationship. I only realized too late that it's about honesty and teamwork."

Conan was unable to look at the magician who had stolen the heart of the woman Shinichi loved. The words leaving Kaito's lips struck too close to home. …But he still couldn't believe coming clean to Ran would have been the right decision.

It started out as an attempt to keep her out of danger, but even though it had ended up with her life in peril anyway, Conan still had thought it better not to tell her. If the truth came out, Ran would live like he did, in constant fear. Conan hadn't wanted that for Ran, so, in that way, there was a difference between Shinichi's case and Kid's.

"Have you ever lied to Ran?" Kogoro inquired, fixing Kaito with an intense stare.

"No," Kaito replied firmly, raising his head and looking Kogoro right in the eye. "Even about the unsavory secrets of my past, my parents, my failures, my shortcomings…I've always told Ran everything, ever since the moment I decided I wanted her in my life."

Kaito's gaze was unwavering as he continued, "After things blew up with Aoko, I swore never to lie to the people I love again." His voice softened. "Sixteen to eighteen were the worst years of my life, and I lost a lot during that time. At the beginning of college, I decided to change, to put all the bad stuff behind me. Since then, I've tried not to do things I'd have to lie about. I wanted to be able to share my life with others; I didn't want to hide or feel ashamed of myself anymore, so…"

Kogoro nodded in understanding and approval. "Well, it sounds like you're making good on your resolutions, and if you've told Ran everything and she's accepted it… Well, I guess I can accept you too. You seem like a good kid, Kaito-kun, and, so far, I like ya, but we're talking about my baby girl here, and she's been hurt _bad_ before."

"I know," Kaito whispered. "She's told me."

Kogoro's face hardened. "Look, Ran is one of the best things I've done in my life, and I won't see her hurt like that again, understand?"

"Yes, Sir." Kaito quietly nodded.

"She deserves to be happy, so I want to see her smiling and laughing when she's with you, okay?" the loving father instructed.

"Yes, Sir." Kaito repeated with a warm smile.

"And know that I reserve the right to kick you out of my daughter's life at any time if you hurt her," Kogoro threatened. "Hurt her, and I will make you _pay_."

"I understand, Sir," Kaito replied solemnly.

"So," Kogoro sighed. "Before I give you the okay to date my daughter, I have to know. You two have only been dating for a few months, but you're already acting like newlyweds and talking about marriage and all that. Ran's obviously serious about you, but I have to know: are you serious about her? What exactly do you want from my daughter?"

"Sir, your daughter has been nothing short of a miracle to me, and I am completely serious about her," Kaito insisted with enough earnestness to move even the staunchest skeptic. "As for what I want…Ran and I are pretty much on the same page in that regard. We want a family."

Kogoro's brow creased.

"Not just kids, and not right away, either," Kaito clarified. "We've talked a lot about growing up and our first failed romances. Those are kind of the points where we really connected at the beginning. We were both under the impression from an early age that we were going to marry a certain person, and we both poured all of our emotional energy into those relationships. So when they failed, we were crushed and convinced we'd never find love again. I personally thought I'd never be happy again after Aoko, but…then I met Ran, and we were able to trust each other, help one another heal, and fall in love a second time. We've both had similar traumas, so it's easy for us to relate.

"And then there's our family lives. Nothing against you, Sir," Kaito quickly assured, "but Ran feels like she never really had a cohesive family like other kids. You know what your relationship has been with your wife; I don't need to tell you about that, but it was hard on Ran growing up…even now."

The trenches in Kogoro's brow deepened, and the hard line his mouth had set into faltered with the twinge of guilt Kaito's words evoked.

"And for my own part," Kaito continued softly. "I already shared with you that my father was murdered and my mom hospitalized soon after. When she got out, she started traveling the world, and I haven't seen much of her since, so…" He looked Kogoro full in the face, hoping the older man would understand. "What Ran and I want from one another is the security and stability of a family. I want to live my life with her by my side, knowing that she's got my back and will support me through whatever I'm going through."

Kogoro looked away and gave a little snort. "This isn't a fairy tale, kid. All that romantic crap you see in the movies doesn't exist in real life. What are you going to do when you face financial difficulties? Sickness? Stress from work, temptation to commit adultery, and the pressures of raising kids? You talk a big game now, Kaito-kun, but what happens after the honeymoon's over and two real-life people have to go out there and make a marriage work? It's no walk in the park. I'm warnin' ya now," Kogoro cautioned from his own life experience. He'd been young and in love once too.

Kaito's expression remained set in determination. "I'm not shy when it comes to hard work. I think any problem can be overcome with honest communication…and maybe some therapy, if necessary. I _expect_ to have to work in this relationship. I _want_ to work together with Ran to make a life together. I'm kind of expecting to get frustrated and fed up and angry from time to time, and I know that Ran's going to want to murder me on occasion too. Like you said, we're actual human beings, complete with flaws and shortcomings. I go into this knowing that I'm going to struggle at times, but I still want to try."

Kaito's voice lowered and softened into a wistful murmur. "I've wanted a real family my entire life. It's been my dream to find a place I belong and people who love me. Anything worth having is worth fighting for and struggling to keep."

Kogoro sighed heavily as he got to his feet. "Kaito-kun, you're a starry-eyed dreamer. I hope life doesn't beat that out of you."

Kaito blinked, looking up apprehensively at his future father-in-law as Kogoro lightly patted him on the head.

"As you know by now, Ran makes her own decisions, and if she's let you into her life, there's no way I could kick you out against her will," Kogoro confessed, running a hand through his hair. "You don't need my permission to date my daughter, but I'll tell ya, I'm glad that you seem to want my approval. Just…" Kogoro gave Kaito another solemn look. "Be careful with her. Ran's tough as nails, but there are places where she's fragile too."

"Yes, Sir," Kaito chuckled with a soft smile. "Thanks."

Kogoro shrugged, going back to his usual aloof demeanor. "All right. You kids behave. I'm gonna go around the corner to the vending machine to get some more smokes. I should be back by the time Ran gets here with the cake, but, if not…tell her I just wanted some fresh air. She's been getting on me about how much I smoke and lung cancer and all that lately."

Kaito gave a playful salute as Kogoro headed towards the door, grabbing his coat and leaving without much ado.

The door shut with a muted click, and then silence reigned in the apartment.

Kaito bit his lip, tentatively casting his gaze upon Conan. "So," he hummed. "I guess that just leaves you and me."

"Yeah," Conan sighed, letting the full weight of his disenchantment show.

Kaito sighed. "Look, Tantei-kun. I know you don't like me right now…. You've never liked me, and that's okay. You don't have to, but let's just agree to get along for Ran's sake, okay? Because I love your big sister, and we both mean a heck of a lot to her, so—"

"—You have no idea," Conan muttered heatedly, glaring his rival down. "How the hell do you think I feel seeing Ran with _you_? We may have done some good together, but you're still just a criminal, and you don't even know the first thing about me, Kid, so do me a favor and don't patronize me, okay?"

Kaito remained silent for almost a full forty-five seconds, trying to determine the best way to approach the situation. "Conan-kun, that part of my life is over. I know you've seen a lot of bad stuff with your cases, and I know in your mind I'm a 'bad' guy, but people can grow and change for the better. I had my reasons for what I did, and they were good enough to exonerate me in Ran's eyes. I don't mean _you_ have to forgive me and condone what I did, but…"

Kaito stopped, seeing that Conan was only drawing further away, crossing his arms, deepening his frown, and refusing to even look at Kaito.

"…I'm sorry," Kaito whispered. "Ran's important to me, and I just want her to be happy. When Ran and I get married, you and I are going to be brothers. We're gonna have to be around each other a lot, so…"

Nothing Kaito said seemed to be helping.

He sighed, chewed on the inside of his cheek, and then tried again. "I know you're young, so you might not fully understand this, but I know what a genius you are, Tantei-kun. You're mature enough to get things that other ten year-olds can't, so…"

Kaito took another deep breath and explained. "I hid the truth about Kid from Aoko in order to keep her safe from those trench-coats with guns that were always taking potshots at me. That _really_ blew up in my face, and after things ended, I was a lifeless mess. Hakuba did his best to keep me alive, but, other than him, I didn't have anyone in my life that gave a damn about me. Your parents may have been kinder and less intentional about it, but you know what it's like to have your parents walk out on you.

"…I'll tell you a secret—my dad's not dead. He _faked_ his death and then went off to travel the world, leaving my mom and me to think he was gone for good. And then my mom abandoned me too. I grew up thinking no one gave a shit about me except Aoko and her family, so I clung to that. When I screwed up and lost that too…"

Kaito shook his head, a grief-ravaged look on his face.

Conan reluctantly snuck a glance or two at his nemesis.

"That was the low point of my life. I didn't want to live anymore," Kaito whispered, and Conan had to scoot a little closer to hear him. "Ran saved me. She cared about me. She had suffered her own trauma too, and with her help I was able to put my life back together and start looking forward to the future again. Ran is my second chance. She's the second chance that I didn't…don't…deserve but so desperately needed. She picked me up off of the garbage heap, cleaned me up, and made me feel like new again…. So I want to do everything possible to keep her smiling. I _love_ Ran, and I—"

"—I love her too, dammit!" Conan hurled in fury at his enemy. That was it. He'd heard enough, and he couldn't take it anymore. "I've loved her for almost twenty years! So what do you want me to do, Kid? What do you want me to say? 'Oh. Okay. You're here now, so I'll just let you take Ran away from me without a fight. I'll just get over my feelings for her overnight and be bestest best friends with you, the guy taking her away from me'?" he scoffed.

"Conan-kun," Kaito started in a calm, reassuring voice.

"That's not my name," the shrunken sleuth growled like a rabid wolf.

Kaito's eyes widened at the heat and the fervor, the hatred blazing in the normally level-headed boy's eyes.

"It's Kudo Shinichi. Kudo Shinichi trapped in this f-ing child's body for the past four, torturous years, watching Ran suffer and slowly drift away while I was right here, unable to do a damn thing to help her," Conan hissed, the frustration and regret coming back all over again.

"And you expect me to be civil to you?" Conan glared at the wide-eyed, pale-faced Kaito. "You're taking my place, pushing me out. And there's nothing I can do but watch my old life go down in flames around me."

They sat there in tense silence for two or three minutes as Kaito struggled to sort through all he'd been told. There was so much to consider: did he believe Tantei-kun's assertions? If yes, then what? What was he supposed to do? Was he expected to just give up Ran? Roll over and play dead like a dog? He wasn't relinquishing his claim without a knock-down, drag-out cat fight.

"What do you want me to do?" Kaito asked quietly, respectfully, facing his challenger.

Conan paused and stared at Kaito. He hadn't been expecting such a calm, level response to his outburst and, frankly, fantastical revelation. He looked down at his hand, fingers drumming repetitively on the table.

"I don't know," Conan replied in a jaded tone. "Part of me wants you to back off and give Ran back, but…there _is_ no going back, is there?"

"…I don't think so," Kaito whispered, holding his breath that his honesty didn't trigger another flare-up.

Conan sighed heavily, running a hand slowly through his hair. "I mean…if she's supposedly over me, dragging Kudo Shinichi back into her life at this point will probably do more harm than good. Apparently I wasn't a good boyfriend anyway, even when Ran and I _were_ together, so—"

"—That's not true," Kaito cut in. "Knowing the circumstances now, I'd say you did the best you could. It's just that the universe and your love of Sherlock Holmes conspired against you and Ran."

Conan's chin dropped to his chest with a sigh of despair. "Yeah. And now she's happier with you…and I'm miserable."

Kaito chewed pensively on his lip for a short while before he answered, "Because you haven't moved on and found your own happiness yet."

Conan sluggishly raised an eyebrow at Kaito. He felt so drained.

"I mean…" Kaito fidgeted almost imperceptibly. "Like I just finished telling you a minute ago, after my breakup with Aoko, I was majorly depressed and ready to throw in the towel on life, but… Maybe your second chance is still to come. Maybe you can make something good, a new life for yourself, out of this seemingly bad situation."

Conan stared thoughtfully at Kaito for minutes stretching into minutes as he considered the magician's words. Finally he sighed, "Stop being so nice and supportive. I want to hate you as the guy who stole my soulmate. It's hard when you make me see you as a fellow human being with baggage. Could you go back to being a silver-tongued ladies' man with a bad personality and zero redeeming qualities?"

Kaito chuckled, shaking his head. "Sorry. And it's better for me if I don't. I mean, I'd rather we peacefully coexisted."

"For Ran's sake," Conan muttered, shaking his head and trying to compose himself. "Okay. I'll play along. I don't want to cause Ran any more pain."

"Kudo…" Kaito attempted to formulate the best way to convey his thoughts. "Ran told me that when things were bad with her because of…because of Kudo Shinichi, she always managed to hold herself together for Edogawa Conan. Your relationship might have been the root of her pain, but you being there for her as her little brother… She told me she'd never have made it without all of your love and support. The sweet ways you'd try to cheer her up when Kudo let her down, the things you'd say and do for her… Kudo, you weren't only a burden to her, so don't think like that. You're an important member of her family that she needs in her life."

Conan sighed yet again, wanting to give his head a good thunk against the wall. "Again. Stop with the encouragement. You have no idea how low it makes me feel getting consoled by the new boyfriend. I don't want you to be a decent guy. I want to be able to hate you as a philandering scoundrel."

Kaito shrugged sheepishly. "Sorry. No can do. I'm deceptively monogamous for all my flirting skills. And I'm happy that way."

Conan gave a snort of laughter, shaking his head slowly at his former mental sparring opponent. "All right. You win…Kuroba."

Kaito grinned, for it was a win indeed. "Does this mean I should call you 'Edogawa' now? I guess I can't very well go around calling you 'Kudo' in front of Ran, can I?"

"Call me what you will."

"Shinigami-chan?" Kaito risked teasing.

Conan glared. "I'll have to kill you."

"I could call you 'Shin-chan' for short!" Kaito was on the verge of a cackle. "It would almost be like calling you your old name. Neat, huh?"

"Not neat," Conan snapped icily. "My mom calls me that, and I hate it. You're making me hate _you_ again."

"At least you're not all depressed and sulky anymore," Kaito remarked with a snicker.

Conan stuck out his bottom lip in a pout, just to prove Kaito wrong.

Kaito was about to heckle his future brother-in-law some more when the apartment door creaked open and Ran walked in.

"I'm home!" she called.

Both boys greeted her with a "Welcome home!" as they scrambled to their feet to meet her at the door.

Conan scowled. "Kuroba, why are you saying 'okaeri'? Shouldn't you be saying 'ojamashiteiru'? This isn't your house."

"I could say it's not yours either, but…that would be a lie." Kaito gave a carefree shrug as he strutted over to his girlfriend.

Ran frowned as she set the cake down on the table. "Conan-kun, you shouldn't speak to Kaito so informally."

Conan started to get sullen, but Kaito nipped it in the bud: "It's totally cool. We talked and came to an understanding while you were out. We're good."

Ran's face seemed to brighten at that…but it might have just been the usual flush of the frigid winter air rising in her cheeks. "You did? Oh, good! I'm so glad to hear that! I had hoped you two would get along."

"Kind of hard with our history of cat and mouse games, right, 'Natural Predator'?" Kaito chuckled, coming over and helping Ran with her coat before giving her a quick smooch. "Welcome home, Hun."

Ran's eyebrows pinched together. "Conan-kun…knows about you?"

"How your boyfriend is an international jewel thief?" Conan snorted with a very fitting prepubescent eye roll. "Yeah. I had him pegged from the start."

Ran's face paled.

"Don't worry; we're cool," Kaito reassured, slipping his arm around her waist as they walked together back over to the table.

"Yeah," Conan sighed. "So long as he doesn't steal anything else. If so, I'm gonna track him down, but…as it stands, I think he's done more good than harm. I mean, he's returned everything to the proper owner, and he exposed a lot of corruption, saved a lot of lives, dogs in safes…so…" Conan reluctantly admitted. "If he breaks your heart, I'm going to make sure he gets the maximum sentence for his crimes, but, until then…"

Ran went straight over to her little brother and gave him a big kiss on the forehead. "Thank you, Conan-kun." She pulled back slightly but remained at his level. She looked him in the eye and smiled, seeming to glow and sparkle. "I can't tell you what it means to me, my family getting along well together."

Conan couldn't help but smile back regretfully. "Thanks for letting me be a part of that family, Ran-neechan."

"But of course!" she laughed, brightly and innocently like the pealing of wedding bells. "Conan-kun, you're my precious little brother who I can always count on because you're always there, whenever I need you."

A genuine smile gradually cracked through the sadness. "Thanks, Ran-neechan."

She patted him gently on the cheek before straightening up and looking around. "Where's Dad?"

"He told me to tell you he stepped outside for some fresh air," Kaito answered, technically not "lying" but merely stretching the truth.

Ran rolled her eyes with a sarcastic snort. "More like he stepped outside to buy more cigarettes."

It was just then that the man in questioned stepped through the door with the cigarette pack blatantly bulging in his pocket as soon as his coat was removed.

"You know what I told you about lung cancer, Dad," Ran scolded before the man could even get an "I'm home" past his lips.

"Come to the table and have some cake," the true master of the house instructed, and Kaito, Conan, and Kogoro quickly fell in line.

When they had taken their places and received their allotted serving of cake, Kogoro nudged Kaito's elbow. "Oh, yeah. Didn't you say you were giving Ran her present after she got back with the cake? What is it?"

"Dad," Ran scolded.

"It's fine." Kaito laughed as he waved Ran's concerns about propriety away. He clapped his hands, and a handkerchief appeared. He set it down on the table, counted to three in Engrish, and then lifted the piece of cloth with a flourish, leaving behind a box like those from a jewelry store.

Kogoro and Conan both scrutinized it carefully. It was too big to be a ring box, so they weren't too concerned, but…

Ran's eyes grew as wide as five hundred yen coins, and her jaw dropped. She looked at Kaito and nearly shrieked. "Kaito, you shouldn't have! This is way too much money! Take it back! You have to pay for university, and it's the thought that counts!"

Kaito only laughed and shook his head. "It's fine. I didn't pay for it."

Conan glared, opening his mouth to admonish.

Kaito cut him off at the pass. "I _made_ it."

Now it was Kogoro's turn to react. He gave his daughter's boyfriend a suspicious look. "You _made_ it? What do you mean you made it? Is it, like, some arts and crafts bead project or something?"

Kaito reached out and pulled off the lid, revealing a marvelous ruby necklace accented with diamonds.

Ran gasped in awe while Conan and Kogoro's eyes bulged in shock.

"It's kind of a family hobby, fine arts. My mother specialized in old masters while my father and I lean more towards gemology. I especially enjoy creating replicas. Like this one. It's a copy of a necklace given by a Russian Tsar to his intended as an engagement present."

"So it's a forgery?" Kogoro was still gaping at the necklace, even as Kaito took it up and put it around Ran's neck. "Isn't that illegal?"

Kaito wagged his finger. "This is a _replica_." He grinned as he admired his gift adorning his own intended. "It'd only be a 'forgery' if I claimed it was the real deal and tried to sell it or otherwise derive profit from it."

Conan still looked skeptical.

"It's gorgeous," Ran cooed, gently fingering the synthetic gems. "Oh, Kaito…"

Kaito beamed as he leaned in for a short kiss.

Still Conan glowered.

Kaito sighed. "Easy, Edogawa. It's not even a good replica."

"It looks pretty good to me!" Kogoro scoffed.

Ran inspected her necklace closely before weighing in. "Yeah. I'd say so too. It's absolutely stunning. They look fit to be royal jewels. I mean, every gem is perfect, Kaito."

"It's _too_ perfect," Kaito explained. "No authenticator worth his salt would be fooled by this piece."

"Oh." Conan nodded in understanding.

Kogoro's brow twisted into a knotted frown. "Why not? I don't see what the problem is. What's with that knowing 'Oh', pipsqueak?"

"The piece looks brand new," Conan started to elucidate, pointing out the setting as well as the gemstones. "It's bright and shiny, and all of the jewels are flawless. If this were really supposed to be a forgery, Kuroba would have aged the piece, maybe had a few stones missing. I mean, this was supposed to have belonged to a Tsarina of Russia. I don't think a piece like this would have survived in its entirety through the revolution."

"Correct," Kaito sang like a gameshow host. "It's said that while trying to escape, the Tsarina and her children lined their clothing with jewels. This necklace never would have made it out in one piece. If I wanted to be super convincing, I would have said to a theoretical buyer that only some of the original stones had been recovered. I would have been a little heavy-handed and gotten an old gun from the period and shot up some of the stones. That way I could say that they were obtained off of the Tsarina's body and had only been brought back together into one piece recently. It would have lent credibility to the piece."

"Also, if he were trying to pass this off as the real deal," Conan continued, enjoying being knowledgeable. "He would have put some flaws in the stones. Real gems have flaws whereas synthetics…"

"So there's no fear of it being mistaken for the real thing by anyone who knows what they're talking about." Kaito tried to hold in a preen, but some of his ego leaked through. "It's still a really nice necklace, though. From this humble magician to his princess intended."

Ran laughed as she waved Kaito's syrupy mush away. "Oh, just eat your cake, Kaito."

"Will you feed it to me?" The compulsive flirt couldn't resist.

Kogoro cleared his throat. "Her father is present."

Kaito grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, Sir."

"Hey," Conan broke in, trying to maintain a cheery Christmas atmosphere. "Since Kuroba and Ran-neechan didn't get to go on their romantic date, shouldn't we do some fun things around the house to make up for it? I feel kind of bad that Ran-neechan didn't get to eat expensive food or ride in a horse-drawn carriage or anything."

Kogoro pursed his lips. "Well…we could play charades or Trivial Pursuit or something." He shrugged. "I don't know. What do people usually do on Christmas Eve?"

The crowd was silent. Conan had never really done much, even as Shinichi, on Christmas Eve. He'd attended parties at the Professor's with the Tanteidan the past three years, but…

Ran and Kaito refrained from remarking because the only answer that came to mind was "date".

"Is there a Christmas special on TV?" Kaito tentatively inquired. He was painfully aware that the Nakamori's annual Christmas Party was going on, but… "When I was really little, my mom and dad and I would watch Christmas specials, eat cookie dough, and each open one gift."

"Eat cookie…dough?" Kogoro raised an eyebrow at his future son-in-law.

Kaito nodded. "Well, we started out making cookies for Santa, but…we never managed to get the dough onto the cookie sheets to go in the oven. Between my mom and me, we ate it all."

"I'm not surprised," Conan sighed. "I wouldn't be opposed to making actually cookies while we watched Frosty or something."

"Not Frosty," Kogoro groaned. "That song gets in your head."

"How about The Grinch!" Kaito cheered. "I've always liked The Grinch."

"You _would_ like the guy that sneaks into people's houses at night and steals stuff," Conan muttered, going over and turning on the TV.

"If nothing we want to see is on," Ran suggested, "we could always watch The Nightmare Before Christmas. I have it on DVD."

Kaito and Conan's eyes lit up, and they proclaimed in tandem, "I love that one!"

"Excellent!" Ran chuckled, enjoying their enthusiasm. "And what kind of cookies do we want to make?"

"We don't have any dough, do we?" Kogoro hummed. "You'll have to make them from scratch, so I guess it'll be just whatever we have lying around."

Ran pursed her lips and got up to go look in the kitchen cupboards. The two "children" followed her excitedly.

"I don't care as long as there's chocolate involved," Kaito tittered.

"Lemon drop cookies would be good, if you could make them," Conan shared his input. "If not, maybe coffee-flavored?"

"Who makes coffee-flavored cookies?" Kaito gawked at the detective in disgust.

Conan snorted. " _I_ do."

"You really are ten going on forty," Kaito snickered in return as he helped Ran take inventory.

"And you're twenty going on five," Conan countered, making Ran crack up.

"Touché, Conan-kun," she chuckled.

Kaito stuck out his bottom lip in a pout. "Raaaan. You're supposed to be on my side."

Ran just laughed. "What? You started it, and can't you defend yourself from a ten year-old, Kaito? Besides, I wouldn't have laughed if it weren't true."

"My lady, you wound me." Kaito drew in a sharp inhale and pretended to go faint.

Ran just rolled her eyes while Conan smirked.

As it turned out, the only viable cookie options they had were chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin.

"Raisins are for old people," Kogoro scoffed.

"Dad, those are prunes, you're thinking of," Ran sighed in mortification.

"Whatever. They're still gross," Kogoro sulked like a small child.

And so they ended up making a batch of chocolate chip cookies in the end. Of the dozen they started with, only eight made it to the oven.

"I hope you get a stomach ache and throw up," Conan taunted the cookie dough thief. "That's unnatural."

"It's _delicious_ ," Kaito corrected, licking his lips.

Ran came over and wiped the last remaining smear of dough from his face. "Behave, children. I thought you said you two came to an understanding?"

"This _is_ our understanding," Kaito laughed wryly. "The back and forth banter helps us to tolerate one another."

With a shrug and an eye roll, Ran set the timer. "Boys."

After the cookie baking adventure, all four of them headed downstairs to the detective agency to sit on the couches around the coffee table and play a game of cards.

"You've got to be cheating," Conan hissed to Kaito under his breath when Ran got up to get them more hot chocolate.

"Hm? Why do you say that?" Kaito grinned like the Kaitou Kid himself.

"Because _I'm_ cheating, and you're still kicking my you-know-what," Conan sniggered.

Kaito only grinned wider. "We could play Mao, if you think you'd fare any better."

"I don't trust you with a standard deck. I'd rather play Uno since there's less chance of you screwing with things," Conan grumbled.

"How do you know he doesn't have an Uno deck or two hidden in one of those interdimensional pockets of his?" Kogoro chuckled.

"Good point," Conan sighed.

"What about Candy Land?" Kaito suggested. "Even I would be hard pressed to cheat at Candy Land."

"One game of Candy Land, and then I want to play charades!" Ran cheered as she came back with the hot chocolate. "Who wants marshmallows?"

"Oh! I do!" Kaito's hand shot straight up, his enthusiasm only rivaled by Kogoro's.

Once the marshmallows were doled out, they settled down to play Candy Land. And it was pretty obvious that either Ran was a Candy Land card shark or Kaito was somehow cheating to make his girlfriend win.

While Ran executed her celebratory dance, Conan glared at Kaito. "How did you even do that?"

Kaito shrugged. "Charades time."

Charades went marginally better than Candy Land with Kaito able to guess Conan's "Irene Adler" and "Bridges Over Madison County". No one got Kogoro's "Dolly Pardon" or Kaito's "Great Gatsby". Ran dominated with her "Queen of England" and "Jurassic Park".

The party games occupied the group until about ten thirty, and it was then that they all piled onto the couch (Kaito on the end, followed by Ran, and Conan on Ran's lap with Kogoro capping off the other end) to watch The Nightmare Before Christmas.

They were barely thirty minutes into the movie when Kogoro drifted off to sleep, and Ran followed him a little more than fifteen minutes later, leaving Conan and Kaito to finish out the movie on their own.

"So…" Kaito whispered as he attempted to shut off the TV as quietly as possible. "It's a little past midnight. Should we wake them up?"

Conan shook his head, lightly laying his head to rest on Ran's chest. "And if you want, you can stay over. Provided you're on your best behavior. It's late and the trains will stop running soon."

"If you don't mind," Kaito chuckled softly, tipping his head to use the back of the couch as a pillow.

There were some minutes of silence before Kaito broke it with a gentle call of "Hey, Edogawa?"

"Hmm?" Conan kept his voice at a whisper so as not to wake Ran…as if anything _could_ wake her, seeing as she was sleeping soundly through her father's fog horn snores.

"Sorry. This is a little personal, so feel free not to answer, but…why did you never tell Ran about your situation? If you haven't noticed, she's freaking awesome; I bet she would have stayed with you and you two would have worked things out."

Conan's expression darkened, but he decided to answer. "I couldn't tell her for the same reasons you couldn't tell Aoko-san about your secret. It's too dangerous for her to get involved, and she's happier not knowing."

"…One more: how exactly did you…? Shrink?" Kaito pushed his luck, hoping he'd get another answer.

"You don't need to know. You've retired from Kid and gunmen in trench-coats, haven't you? Stay retired. Be normal, and stay out of this so that you can make Ran happy," Conan instructed firmly, not wanting to do anything more to get Ran wrapped up in his fight for justice.

"…Okay," Kaito sighed, giving it up for Ran's sake. Something in Conan's voice told him that Conan was caught up in something deadly serious.

Quiet reigned between them once again, and, after a few minutes, Conan was the one to break it. "Hey. So…normally when people find out about the whole shrinking thing…they flip out a little more than you did. I mean, you didn't even question it; you just accepted it as if something like that wasn't the least bit…unusual, to say the least."

Kaito shrugged and tried to keep his chuckle to a minimum. "Edogawa, I'm from Ekoda where we have witches and mad scientists and creepy robots. I spent two years of my life searching for an ancient gemstone rumored to grant immortality when held up to the full moon. And then I actually _found_ the rock. I can accept your whole shrinking thing pretty easily because it answers more questions than it raises for me. Now it makes sense why you're so smart and can use a gun and drive a motorcycle and a car and an airplane. So, yeah."

Conan blinked and stared for a bit before giving a light snort. "Huh. Did you say witches? Because that's impossible. You mean wiccans? Those are a little different. And when you say that the gem 'cries'…you don't actually…"

Kaito pursed his lips as he watched his friendly rival struggle to wrap his mind around everything Kaito had just said. He grinned. "Just kidding, Tantei-kun. I have a very open mind, an excellent imagination, and I read too many comic books. And also, it makes sense, you being my age what with all of your knowledge and skills."

"Oh," Conan sighed in relief, chuckling nervously. "Ha. Funny. Right. You had me going for a sec there."

Kaito just smiled. Kudo had it hard enough. No need to rip apart his perception of reality on top of it. "Good night, Edogawa. Merry Christmas," he chuckled, closing his eyes and inching closer to Ran so he could rest his head against hers.

"Good night, Kuroba," Conan whispered. "Merry Christmas…. And thank you for not being a self-centered, womanizing jerk."

Kaito slowly peeled an eye open. "You're welcome?"

"…Take care of Ran for me, okay? Or else I'll make your life hell."

Kaito almost laughed. Overprotective little brother Conan/remorseful ex-boyfriend Kudo was kind of cute…and kind of sobering. But Kaito didn't need a warning not to screw things up with Ran. He'd learned his lesson with Aoko.

"Understood, Tantei-kun. And I accept your truce. Friends?"

Conan pursed his lips. "Don't get ahead of yourself, Kuroba."

"Maybe tomorrow?"

Conan frowned disapprovingly.

"…Or maybe the day after that? Boxing Day is a fabulous day to come together and—"

"—I just decided to tolerate your existence and allow you to date the woman I love _today_. I think it's going to take a while for me to do any more than tolerate," Conan grumbled.

"Okay then. I'll just put us down for friends the day after tomorrow, and then maybe by New Years we'll become bffs," Kaito planned with a hint of mischievous excitement in his voice.

Conan literally bit his tongue to keep from lashing out at the joker. "…Go to sleep before I kill you, Kuroba."

"Right…. Thanks," Kaito whispered, sounding utterly earnest for once.

Conan tried not to squirm as he reluctantly responded, "You're welcome." He got the feeling that Kaito was thanking him for more than just his patience with Kaito's tomfoolery.

But Kaito made no acknowledgement of Conan's words. He had both eyes closed and his head nestled up close to Ran's.

There was a slight twinge in Conan's chest because Kuroba and Ran looked good together. It kind of gave him a glimpse at what it would have looked like, Shinichi and Ran, but… He couldn't let himself think about such things. That bridge had burned and been torn down, and now a shopping center had been constructed where the bridge once stood.

He had to make himself believe that things were okay like this, maybe even better this way. Ran was happy with a guy who was crazy about her. And Kuroba was a good guy…for an ex-jewel thief. At least he had time for her, respected her, and treated her as well as she deserved. They made it work.

And maybe Kuroba was right about there being a second chance out there just waiting for Conan. Maybe he could use this opportunity to do his life over and find happiness.

Conan closed his eyes with a sigh. He'd think about it more tomorrow and decide whether or not to adopt a positive life view in the morning after he'd opened his presents. For now, he was exhausted from all the activity of the night. He'd make a decision after he'd rested…if he could rest; Old Man Mouri was beginning to snore even louder.

Eventually he did find his way to dreamland.

And the apartment was quiet as the Christmas tree glinted in the pale light of the moon streaming in through the cracks in the blinds. The shops and houses were dark as the town drifted off to sleep, and snow fell silently on Beika.

The

End

…

Mikau: You know, all throughout the writing process, I was really stressing about this, thinking it was crappy, but now that I look back on it, I really like this piece. At least there are parts that I'm really happy with. So, on the whole, I'm satisfied with how this story turned out. I hope you liked it too. Thanks a bunch for reading, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts!


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